The Morality of the Beiyang Era (Eighty-one): Condescending and arrogant, nothing but polite; surrender to politeness, and then stretch out righteousness.
In the history of Beiyang, Wu Peifu belonged to the existence of a pillar of heaven among the direct warlords, and his reputation was even much higher than that of the leader Cao Kun. However, after winning the prestige of "Anxiang in the First World War, Ding'e in the First War, and Kewan in the Third War", in the First Zhifeng War, Wu Peifu led the Zhi army to defeat the Feng army, and Zhang Zuolin had to sacrifice the "Fengjun Zhongxing" plan to create a "new Fengjun", and on the stage of the crowd chasing deer, Wu Peifu experienced the loneliness of seeking defeat alone, or the growing prestige, because when asked what the "warlord" was called, Wu once bluntly said, "The army is not a valve, why is it honored." Wu Peifu's uninhabited prestige is not limited to himself, after all, Cao Kun staged a farce to win the president of Beiyang, in addition to the desire of this "Cao San Fool", there is also a group of subordinates who are eager to "one person to get the Tao, the chicken dog to ascend to heaven", Cao Kun once complained to his subordinates: "You must bring me to power, but you are calling me to live and suffer." ”
However, with "the soldiers cannot be cut, the governors cannot be abolished, the salaries cannot be dealt with, and the finances cannot be sorted out", Wang Shizhen, the elder of Beiyang, saw it most thoroughly, and he once sighed meaningfully and said: "If you want to harm people, it is best to let him be president." Wu Peifu, the number one general among the warlords directly under his direct lineage, naturally saw it thoroughly, so Luoyang trained his troops, cultivated his strength, and looked at the tiger with great strength. And Cao Kun's orders, not to mention that they could not be carried out in Feng, Anhui and the southwestern provinces, were all out of place in the territory of the direct warlords, after all, they regarded themselves as the "grass-headed kings" of the provinces with high hard work, Cao Kun tried his best to win over and was tired of coping, and there was also a mighty Wu Peifu who called himself the "eldest son", which had the meaning of "the father is old, and the eldest son is in charge", but the brothers naturally do not like this big brother who has no children.
Among them, the "anti-Wu alliance" formed by Wang Chengbin and Qi Xieyuan, the backbone of the warlords directly related to them, hated Wu Peifu the most. In the course of Cao Kun's ascension to the top spot in Beiyang, Wang Chengbin did not hesitate to play the disgraceful role of "carjacking and seizing the seal" before he attained the status of directly subordinate to the overseers, but unexpectedly, Peng Shouxin, commander of the 15th Division stationed at Yuguan, and Dong Zhengguo, commander of the Ninth Division stationed in Lutai, both of them directly obeyed Wu Peifu, the "Grand Marshal of Wu," and did not take Wang Chengbin, the "supervisor," in his eyes. Wang Chengbin also complained to the guests: "The old horse has been driving for the master for many years, but now it is not trusted, and it should be retreated in spite of difficulties." There is also a saying: "I am a Fengtian person, so I suspect that I am a devotee, but Lord Cao and Zhang Zuolin are the relatives of their children, are they not also consecrated?" ”
Qi Xieyuan, who succeeded Feng Guozhang as the overseer of Jiangsu, although he belonged to the old direct line of people, but had repaid Cao Kun with huge funds, but on the issue of sponsoring Chen Tiaoyuan as the overseer of Jiangxi, Wu Peifu bluntly said that it was inappropriate, and Cao Kun, who was sandwiched in the middle, was embarrassed. Wu Peifu had planned to transfer the Shaanxi army's Hu Jingyi Division into Guangdong, but Hu was unwilling to fight against the south and refused to open up, causing Wu Peifu's dissatisfaction; when wishing Wu Peifu a happy birthday, there was a rumor that "the grand marshal will detain you on the charge of tongfeng", which frightened Hu Jingyi into fleeing to Tianjin in a hurry, and sent a telegram to explain the misunderstanding, and Wu Pei naturally had another enemy who secretly held a grudge. Hubei overseer Xiao Yaonan was Wu Peifu's old subordinate, Wu Peifu was still not at ease, sent Zhang Liandi to the "supervision army", Xiao Yaonan once said to Zhang with a sad face: "Fu Xin big brother, I am nominally an overseer, in fact you are my eldest brother, everything you do to do the lord, do not ask me." ”
In the end, even after Xiao Yaonan was promoted to "Inspector of the Two Lakes", Wu Peifu still controlled the Inspector of the Two Lakes with the title of "Inspector of Zhiluyu". One after another orders were sent, using Hubei as a supply base for food and weapons, and sometimes after the supply was a little late, Wu Peifu was furious and wanted to transfer Zhang Fulai to Hubei, frightening Xiao Yaonan to personally go to Luoyang to apologize for his sins, so that he could save his position, and Wu Peifu's prestige could be imagined. Wang Chengbin and Qi Xieyuan had successively submitted their resignations during the thirteenth year of the Republic of China, hoping to use the means of "alliance strike" to bring down Wu Peifu, and Wu Peifu also resigned in contrast, so anxious that Cao Kun rubbed his hands and stomped his feet and said: "Good! If you don't do it, we all won't do it! Therefore, under the prestige of Wu Peifu, the warlords of the direct line are not waiting for external forces to attack, and they themselves have already appeared to be in a trance.